2023: Okowa will handover to Urhobo, Gbagi assures

…urges Okowa to contest for Nigeria presidency 

 

By Gabriel Oghenekaro,

Delta State 2023 governorship aspirant Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, has stated that incumbent Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa would handover governorship of the state to an Urhobo extraction.

Gbagi who made this known during a ceremony to appreciate members of his campaign organisation, hosted by the Gbagi Solidarity Movement, said he was one of the foremost PDP members in Delta State vying for the governorship seat among others in the state.

He noted that he never at any time shown interest to contest the governorship in 1999, but that he was the major sponsor of Prof. Sam Oyovbaire for Governor in 1999 until he withdrew from the race at the residence of the Late Chief David Dafenone in Apapa, Lagos State and directed him to run in his place.

According to him, “I was never at any time, said I want to contest the governorship in 1999, never. On the contrary, I am very pleased to tell all who are here gathered that I was the main sponsor of Prof. Sam Oyovbaire in 1999 political sojourn in Delta State. Because a lot of you do not have records, so you do not know where we are coming from, but I can tell you, you cannot know it more than the actors or players in the field.

“I received a call from Dafenone that I should come, and when I got to his office, I met Prof. Sam Oyovbaire and Dafenone seated. Prof. Sam Oyovbaire had written a memorandum of understanding that he has quitted the race for governorship and that I should go and run for governorship in his place. That came to me as a bit of a shocker because I never planned or thought of it, that 2:24 pm in Apapa when that thing happened.

“I respect Prof. Sam Oyovbaire in the true sense of the word respect. For that singular reason, whatever happened in that 1999 linking up to when Chief James Ibori became governor, my plan and plot were that I was definitely going to be governor when it finishes its turn. Originally, it would have been central and north but for whatever reason, it became Central, South and North.

“So I prepared that if it was coming back to Central, I prepared myself in such a manner that will gladden all your heart today. That I have done no business with Delta state nor I have benefited from Delta state, nor have I participated in anything illegal in Delta in the last 20 years.

“If you look at the calendar by the time Governor Ifeanyi Okowa finishes, Delta Central would have waited for 16 years.

“The way it was designed, every senatorial district will wait for 16 years. I want us to understand it because it looks as if some of us are groping in the dark; some of us talking politics; some of us were not a party to know how it was enacted; some of us do not know where we started from; some of us were not part of those that brought PDP to Delta State, but I pride myself to be one of those aspirants and members of PDP who decided that the governorship should be rotated from one senatorial district to the other. One must wait for 16 years for the others to take their turn,” he explained.

“Delta Central has waited for 16 years; we cannot change the game plan in the middle of the game. I plead that the peace and development we have enjoyed as a people should continue. Delta South Senatorial District that just finished their turn in less than 8 years ago cannot claim that a senatorial district that have waited for 16 years should not be allowed to take its own turn. That will be ungodly and politically inaccurate. I plead that we should understand ourselves and work together in unity for the good, greatness and development of Delta State,” he added.

Gbagi noted that if Deltans checked the quantum of money accruable to the three governors that had governed Delta State, they would forever be grateful to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for his prudence in fiscal management.

“Okowa has done very well with the little resources he got to develop Delta. He has done what only God can do for His people. Let us pray that Okowa will not only finish strong and stronger but will go to the next level,” he said.

“I have not seen on the list of people vying to be president in 2023 that is as good as Okowa. Okowa has character, and the Bible says “where one, two or three are gathered in His name and make a declaration it works,” he added.

“If Okowa becomes the President of Nigeria, if zoned to the South or, at least, the Vice President, it will be easier for us to access him. And if he finished as the President or Vice, I will take over from him, just as I will take over from him in 2023” he stated.

“We agreed that if Okowa finishes, he must go higher levels. I am supporting Okowa to be either the President or, at least, the Vice President of Nigeria. If we all agreed here, his spirit will accept it and God will bring it to pass,” he added.